"They really will try anything..."
Tao Yu looked at Dai Lan's memory fragments, most of which were her attempts at various longevity methods.
Including Blood Orchid and Spice, she had also gotten her hands on them, but unfortunately, their effects on her were too minimal, to the extent that she still consumed Spice daily.
Besides these, she had even tried some esoteric methods involving boys and girls!
She had also conducted several sacrifices to the Evil Gods and eventually gave up, precisely because one of the Evil God's reciprocations led to the deformity of her flesh. It was a case of losing even what one had when trying to steal something extra; unless she was willing to distort her own soul, she could no longer continue to sustain herself.
As for distorting one's soul, that was a matter of personal opinion—some believe you remain yourself, while others believe you are no longer the same person. Clearly, she considered herself the latter.